


upkeep cost

by aradinfinity



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-07 23:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11634480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aradinfinity/pseuds/aradinfinity
Summary: listen, a glorious afterlife is fine and all, but who's gonna keep the pyramid clean, that's what i wanna know





	upkeep cost

The mummy woke. There was barking in the pyramid. It sighed, a dry, rasping sigh, and pushed the lids of the sarcophagus off itself. They hit the ground with a dusty thump, and the mummy rose, a linen-wrapped hand pulling itself out of its bed. Light feet barely left the ground as it stalked towards the entrance of the tomb.  
A jackal statue greeted it, sniffing at its hip and butting its proffered hand, which scritched between stone ears. The jackal yipped excitedly, spinning in circles, and the mummy smiled and brushed past it. A second jackal performed the same ritual, and a third; the barking had stopped, but still the mummy plodded on.  
It knew its tomb. It had had hundreds of years to learn, after all, and was in relatively good shape for that- some of its protectors had been able to stitch it back together, after it had run into some of the worse traps. It hobbled, a little bit, but overall it was proud of its state. None of the neighboring countries could proclaim that their dead stayed whole as long as its. (Well, not truthfully.)  
A hand pressed at something on the wall, twisted, and there was a click. The stone before them, which had been built on hinges, rumbled into an upright and locked position, and the jackals bounded out of the pyramid into the sands. The mummy waited.  
There was a sound by its feet, and the mummy looked down at a small, mummified cat, which met its gaze (presumably) without flinching. It placed a paw on the mummy's foot, and it leaned down. The cat leapt into its arms with a certain feline grace, and the mummy stroked it absently while they waited.  
Eventually, the jackals sped back towards and into the pyramid, where they promptly dissolved into a playing pile, nipping and yipping at each other. If the mummy was two hundred years younger, it thought, and then sighed, plodding past them with the cat, which leaned into its hollow chest.  
The sphinx had been a gift from a neighboring civilization; the idea, at least. This one, carved of jade, had been as loyal a protector as any, though prone to riddling. It was licking itself on the mummy's worktable now, and the mummy cleared its throat. The sphinx looked up, stretched, and plopped onto the floor on feet that should not have been that light. Cats.  
The mummy placed the one it was holding gingerly on the table, and sketched a complex heiroglyph at the sphinx. “Okay,” the sphinx said, “but first, solve this riddle: What kind of coat is always wet when you put it on?” The mummy hesitated, sighed, and sketched a different heiroglyph. The sphinx nodded. “I thought that one was too easy. You know, they really should screen their magazines.” And then it vanished, returning after a minute with a basked clutched in its mouth.  
The mummy accepted it, placed the basket on the table, and pushed on the cat's shoulder. The cat flopped, and exposed its belly. A scalpel carefully opened it, and the mummy leaned in, bandaged fingers pushing at old flesh, until it found the problem. The scalpel carefully, carefully extracted the egg sac, and the mummy placed it on the table, followed by the spider that had laid it, which wriggled in protest.  
Spider and eggs were tied with a scrap of linen, and then the mummy offered the bundle to the sphinx, which took it obediently. Another heiroglyph, and the sphinx nodded and vanished once more. The mummy found the proper thread, and began to stitch, while the cat mewled appreciatively.  
Soon enough, it was done, and the mummy placed the cat on the floor, which scampered off somewhere. The sphinx had returned, and the mummy placed its tools back in its basket, and gave it to the sphinx before plodding, slowly, back to its sarcophagus.  
It lowered itself back in, crossing its arms over its chest, and the sphinx pushed the lids back on, one at a time. Silence reigned in the pyramid, and the mummy sighed, drifting back off to sleep.


End file.
